


A Couple of Miles

by bachelorgirl



Category: High School Musical
Genre: M/M, post-HSM3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-01-13
Updated: 2009-01-13
Packaged: 2017-10-14 18:23:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/152132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bachelorgirl/pseuds/bachelorgirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ryan doesn't live in New Mexico anymore. Chad comes for a visit. That's pretty much it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Couple of Miles

**[Chad] Dodge Physical Fitness Center - Broadway and 116th Street**

"Seriously. You better know somewhere in this city to get something decent to eat and, oh, wait, I think I'm just about at the... Evans! There you are." Chad interrupted himself mid-thought when he saw Ryan leaning against the gigantic statue of a lion, just as he promised, cell phone pressed to his ear and examining the back of his hand like it held the answers to the mysteries of the universe.

Ryan looked up and around, knowing from the shift in conversation that Chad must be somewhere nearby. Chad grinned. "I'm still in the middle of the road. I'm standing on what is maybe the only grass in the entire city, actually. Definitely the first grass I've seen."

Ryan's eyes focused on the grassy median that Chad was standing on, waiting for the light to change, and he waved, a smile spreading across his face when their eyes met. But, Chad noticed, it was a tired smile. Not as much of his usual sparkle.

"Well, then I'm going to have to make sure you at least _see_ Central Park before you leave. Even if I have to put you in a taxi and drive you by it, just to make sure you know that it exists and we're not entirely without nature," Ryan informed him as Chad made his way across the road.

Ending the call, Chad slipped his phone into his pocket and grabbed Ryan into a hug, which Ryan returned enthusiastically, hands gripping into the back of Chad's jacket.

"Seriously. You look exhausted. Are you feeling okay?" Chad saw Ryan wince at the words and then attempt to turn his expression into something more indignant.

"Well, some of us have a lot on our plates these days, Danforth."

"And some of us just handle the pressure better than others." Chad raised his eyebrows and gave his best 'I dare you' face.

"You did _not_ just go there." Ryan's expression shifted a little bit, but it wasn't quite the smile that Chad had been expecting.

"Oh, I went there." Chad nodded his head and tapped his foot. "Well?"

"Well what?" Ryan replied.

"I'm waiting for you to follow me there. Seriously. Your sister is way better at this game."

"Which game?" Ryan asked. "The game where we stand here and say nasty things about each other and pretend it's fun?"

"It _is_ fun." Chad looked at Ryan, confused. This is what they did, he and Ryan. And Sharpay lately, too. Which was still weird. But good weird, kinda.

"Nah," Ryan replied, picking a couple of apples out of a pile from a street vendor and handing over a five dollar bill, biting into it and walking away without waiting for his change. "Where I come from these days, it's not a hobby. It's a survival skill. And, you don't say it unless you mean it." Ryan handed the other apple to Chad.

"Sounds like you go to school with some people who need a few lessons on how not to suck all the fun out of life." Chad took a bite of the apple, unsettled. Who was this and what had they done with Ryan Evans?

"I believe the words you're looking for are 'cutthroat, competitive, and intense." Ryan counted the adjectives off on his fingers.

"You know," Chad replied, bumping his shoulder into Ryan's, "I'm pretty sure that some people would say the same things about college sports, dude."

"Did you just call me 'dude'? I thought we'd been over this." Ryan looked over at him, smiling. Finally.

"No, seriously. What's up? Even your clothes look tired." Okay, so going after the wardrobe was a low blow, but this situation seemed to call for it.

"They do not." Ryan's expression held some trace of normal Ryan. "This outfit does not say 'tired'. It says 'I am subtly rooting for the other team but please don't beat me up when _my_ home team kicks your home team's sorry derriere'."

Chad watched as Ryan smoothed the front of his very subtle red and white shirt and adjusted the red newsboy cap on his head. Sure, the outfit didn't say 'look at me, I am totally heterosexual' Chad figured that was probably thanks to the Prada logo slapped across Ryan's ass, which Chad had made sure to check for to ensure that Ryan hadn't completely lost his mind but it was about as close as Chad had ever seen.

"Dude. You're not even sparkly."

Ryan held up his arms which showed cufflinks that were, okay _fine_ , silver and shiny.

"I mean, I know that college sports are, like, uber competitive and all that, but somehow I think it's a little bit different than that where I am," Ryan said, unexpectedly shifting the conversation back to where it was before Chad had insulted his wardrobe.

"Yeah whatever. Try me." Seriously. Chad may not go to Julliard, but he damn well knew something about hard work.

"No seriously. Come with me. Come into my world."

"Your world? I might not know much about New York City, but come on. We're at... what?" Chad glanced up at the street signs above their heads. "116th and Broadway. Isn't _your world_ , like, forty-something blocks from here? As in, less than 2 miles? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't even think we need to leave the Upper West Side to get to 'your world'."

"As impressed as I am with your geographical knowledge of Manhattan, I beg to differ. Oh, young, naive Chad Danforth. You really have no idea the difference a couple of miles makes in a city like this."

Chad scoffed, but couldn't hold back a smile at the air of superiority hiding behind Ryan's teasing tone. Thank the lord, there was still a little bit of the Ryan Evans he knew in there somewhere.

"Trust me. When we're done in my world, we'll go a couple of miles more and I'll show you what happens then." Ryan grinned, licked his lips, and paused for dramatic effect and Chad could swear his expression was almost seductive. "If you think you can handle it."

Then, the expression was gone if it had ever been there and Ryan motioned to the subway entrance with a tilt of his head. "Ride? Or walk? Or, I could hail a cab. Or a car." Chad noticed that the last two suggestions were added almost as an afterthought. Which was odd. Sharpay would have a limo waiting. She usually did.

"Someone once told me that you've never been to New York if you've never ridden the subway." Chad couldn't remember anyone ever telling him that, but it seemed like the right thing to say.

"Ride it is." Ryan grinned and headed down the stairs to the subway.

~ ** ~ ** ~

 **[Ryan] The 1 Train, Downtown 116th Street Station**

"Everywhere you need to go, you can get by taking the 1 line," Ryan remarked, swiping his MetroCard through the turnstile and passing it back to Chad.

"You lie. And, hey, you can use your subway card more than once?"

"This is the kind of card you put money on like a debit card. They couldn't care less if I stood here for an hour and swiped all the money away. They already have my money. No skin off their back." Chad didn't need to know that this was the card he bought just in case he and Chad had ended up meeting up and doing something after Chad's game against Columbia. There was no reason anyone needed to know that he had a 30-day pass tucked away in the back of his wallet, really.

"And, okay, fine. If it wasn't 45 degrees outside and you wanted me to take you to Coney Island, or if you wanted to go anywhere on the east side, not that there's really any reason to go there above 14th street, we'd have to take a different train. But, yup. Pretty much everything important? The 1 train."

"This is why I ditched all of the team and am hanging out with you. Even if you do sound kinda like a walking guidebook. On speed." Chad made a face at him.

Ryan smiled and shoved Chad onto the subway. "Well, that, and I'm pretty sure that Shar threatened your life and limbs if you didn't come by and say hi while you were on my coast. I know she threatened mine. Speaking of. When did you and my sister actually start exchanging enough words for her to be able to threaten you?" Ryan wasn't sure how thrilled he was with his sister befriending Chad well enough to potentially fill his head with Ryan's childhood worth of embarrassing stories.

Chad grinned a million-watt smile over at him and spun around the pole before falling back onto the subway bench. "Desperate times. This is seriously the ugliest subway ever."

Ryan smiled. "No, that's the B,D,F,V line. Trust me. The 6 train, from which Jennifer Lopez so cleverly took the name of to title her first 'album'," Ryan made air quotes with his hands, "and the 4 and 5 trains are the nicest. Way nicer. Brand new, clean and with reliable heating and air-conditioning. However, this is somewhere in the middle in terms of quality and it's going to give us door-to-door service from Columbia to Lincoln Center, so don't be talking smack about the 1 train."

"You did not just say 'talking smack'."

Ryan stuck his tongue out at Chad. "I can't help it if you and your _athletic vernacular_ are rubbing off on me. It's like some horrible venereal disease. It's a wonder I haven't actually starting talking in netspeak or textspeak by this point."

"Is this the subway system?" Chad asked, standing up and pointing to the map on the wall next to the door.

Ryan tilted his head up to look above him without turning around. "Yup."

"All those coloured lines and squiggles are actually supposed to a) mean something to me and b) show me how to get somewhere?"

Ryan grinned. "That's the idea, yes."

Chad looked down at Ryan, their faces mere inches apart. "Well, I guess I'll just have to stick with you, then."

Ryan swallowed and tried to focus on breathing from his diaphragm and ignoring the way he could feel Chad's breath on his lips. He knew the drama kids didn't have much in the way of personal space, but he'd forgotten the basketball team was like that, too. Blushing like an infatuated schoolgirl probably wouldn't go over so well, even if, to someone who didn't know them better, it would look like Chad was flirting with him.

The subway screeched to a halt and Ryan quickly leapt out off the bench and held out his hand to Chad, "Come on, man. This is us."

Ryan didn't even realize what he'd done until he felt Chad take his hand and be led off the subway. When they got to the bottom of the stairs, Ryan tried to drop Chad's hand casually. He was fairly certain he'd succeeded.

As they were crossing the street, Chad pulled out his phone, fired off a quick text message and waited for a response. "Shar says that you were supposed to text her a half hour ago and that 'you know she's always right so you better damn well listen to her this time', which is more or less a direct quote."

Ryan rolled his eyes and blushed. "She's so not always right." Just most of the time. And, this time she claimed to have inside knowledge, whatever that meant.

"I'd like to see you tell her that," Chad smiled.

"So, that's my special hell, right there," Ryan said, pointing to the Julliard building as it came into view, changing the subject.

"That's it?" Chad replied. "Really?"

"What do you mean, "That's it?""

" _That's_ the building that's supposed to strike fear into the hearts of budding young _artistes_ everywhere?" Chad waved to the building. "Aren't I supposed to want to bow down to worship and/or grovel at the mere sight of it?"

"Dude. It's Julliard. Show a little respect."

"It's, like, one third of the size of East High. It's not even a whole building." Chad elbowed Ryan in the side.

"Chad Danforth," Ryan put his hands on his hips and found himself taking the bait and playing along with Chad's teasing. "You seem to think that size is everything. Haven't you ever heard that it's all about what you do with it?"

Ryan knew he'd won when Chad nearly tripped over his own feet and burst out laughing. "Oh, Evans. I didn't know you had it in you."

Just then, a group of the sophomore acting students walked by the two of them and they waved and smiled at Ryan.

"Wow, dude," Chad said when the group of colourfully dressed students had passed. "These really are your people, aren't they?"

Ryan just shrugged a little and said, "Come on." He started up the stairs towards the dorm. "I'll show you my suite, you can see where I live and we can figure out what we're going to do until your teammates want you back."

~ ** ~ ** ~

 **[Chad] Meredith Willson Residence Hall - Broadway and 65th Street**

" _This_ is where you live?" Chad knew he was kind of gawking at the front door of the building.

"It's a dorm, Chad. You lived in one too."

Chad shook his head and took in his surroundings. "There was a security guard at the door, not some hungover sophomore working at the front desk as part of their work-study program. And, did we just walk by a room with a pool table and large screen TVs?"

"Yes. And, much like you, I'd imagine, we also have a common kitchen and vending machines and a laundry room that doesn't have nearly enough machines in it. And, above us are a bunch of apartments. Now, stop gawking and get your damn self on the elevator or you're going to be taking the stairs for the next hour."

Chad set his jaw and got on the elevator. "Wait. You do your own laundry?" he asked, unbelieving.

"Only when I'm desperate. Like I said, not nearly enough machines and it's actually cheaper to pay someone to do it for you. And, they pick it up and drop it off with the doorman. So, really. Where's my motivation?"

When the doors opened on the 26th floor a number that Chad tried not to think about too hard he found himself looking at a hallway that, admittedly, wasn't all that different from the rest of the dorms that he'd seen. Except for the doors at the end of each hallway labelled "Practice Room", which were closed, and clearly in use.

They walked a short distance down the hall and Ryan let himself into the apartment. Chad looked around and was genuinely surprised to see that Ryan's apartment looked absolutely nothing like he imagined it would. Except for the very large collection of posters throughout the living room that Chad figured were probably from operas or ballets or the Ice Capades or whatever that wasn't much of a surprise.

"Well, the grand tour. The living room," Ryan pointed at the room filled with standard-issue dorm furniture as he walked through and down a short hallway. "Bathroom, storage closet, bathroom, half a bathroom, and the bedrooms. You won't remember any of this, but Hannah and Erica live in there, Mike lives there, Jiao lives in that one, Shiori and Amy live in there and this one's mine." Ryan paused to give a quick knock on the door.

"Wha" Chad began, but stopped when there was no answer to the knock and Ryan pushed the door open. Chad gaped. "You have a roommate."

Chad let his eyes scan the way-smaller-than-he-was-expecting dorm room and took in the two lofted beds with matching desks underneath, bookshelves, drawer-chests and cupboards. "And a bunk-bed."

Ryan rolled his eyes and reached behind him and blindly hit Chad. "It's not a bunk-bed. It's a loft bed. It's an effective use of space in a city that has a severe lack. And, besides, you knew I had a roommate, didn't you?"

"I think you mentioned it, but I think I forgot. Or blocked it out. Because I didn't think it was possible. I think I could barely manage to imagine you sharing an apartment with another person, so the fact that you shared a bedroom... I mean, I don't think you've seen it, but you have _heard_ about Sharpay's condo, right?"

Ryan grinned. "Oh, she's emailed me pictures. And video. And, well, Shar's just doing it her way. And, this is what we do here. It's the Julliard way. 'Thou shalt live on campus in your first year and shall room with another person who has a different major than you so you can live on completely opposite schedules, and thou shalt sleep in a bed 8 feet in the air that's barely big enough for one person so don't even think about adding a second'. "

Chad looked up and surveyed the situation. "You know, I'll bet it's possible."

"Well of course it is," Ryan said, turning his head to look at Chad and winking. "You just have to be careful. And, I am a dance major. I bend."

Chad felt his jaw drop and looked over to Ryan. Seriously, what? "Evans! You _dog_."

Ryan just put his hands into his pockets and hummed, innocently. "So, when do you turn into a pumpkin, Mr. Danforth?"

"Please note how I'm going to completely ignore the fact that, unless that was an invitation, you just made the most random change of subject in history. And, my plane leaves at 10:35."

Chad watched Ryan look at his watch. "Trust me," Ryan narrowed his eyes and grinned slightly. "If it was an invitation, you wouldn't be able to miss it. And, it's, like, 10:00 now. I don't know which airport you were planning on flying out of, but there's no way you're making it to any of them by 10:35. Not even if you had a plane."

Chad watched as the pieces all fell together in Ryan's head and felt himself bounce lightly on the balls of his feet, psyched that his surprise had actually stayed that way.

"Dude. It's just you and me and whoever the hell else you want to drag along for the next, oh, 10 hours or so. So, come on then. Entertain me. Keep in mind that the first thing we do better involve food or I'm going to pass out and you'll have to drag me everywhere."

"I have leftover pizza in my fridge?" Ryan said, motioning to the small fridge in the corner of the room.

Chad pulled the fridge open and, sure enough, there was a bag with a few grease stains sitting on the top shelf. Chad pulled the pizza out of the bag. "Dude. There's _pasta_ on your pizza. I'm totally moving to New York."

Ryan laughed. "Hey, you never know when you might need to carb load on short notice. Now, come on. Grab your dinner and let's get the show on the road. I've suddenly decided where we're going."

Chad took a bite of the biggest slice of pizza he'd ever seen, grabbed the bag with the other piece in it, and followed Ryan out of the apartment and back onto the subway.

~ ** ~ ** ~

 **[Ryan] Pinkberry 177 Bleecker Street**

"If you say one word about how lame this is, it will be the end of our friendship as you know it, Chad Danforth," Ryan warned, pushing open the door to Pinkberry.

"Hey," Chad protested. "We've totally made it all the way into the store and I haven't said anything about the lame name of this place. Yet. Where the hell are we, anyway? Are we even still in New York? This place looks all small-towny."

"It's frozen yogurt. And, yes we are. Less than 2 miles." Ryan grinned over at Chad, triumphantly. "We're in the village. Greenwich Village," he clarified.

"We're doing what?" Chad asked.

Ryan laughed. "Hey. I want ice cream. However, I also want to fit into my dance clothes tomorrow, so I'm not going to Cold Stone. If you want, it's, like, 5 blocks that way," Ryan pointed in a vaguely northward direction, but not so northward as to give Chad any ideas about wandering off. "It was either this or Tasti-D-Lite which tastes like cardboard, so really it could be much worse for you."

"Did you really just get on the subway and travel, well, I have no idea how many blocks because the streets don't have numbers anymore, for _frozen yogurt_?"

"Yes. I did. Embrace your inner New Yorker, Chad. This is what we do. Well, that, and there is one of these much closer to my apartment, but this is closer to where we're going afterwards. So, play nice or I'm not buying one for you."

Chad obeyed. "Well, I wouldnt want you to think that I'm an ungrateful date or anything," he said before ordering himself the largest size they had and piling on half of the available toppings. Ryan rolled his eyes, ignored Chad's choice of words, and ordered his usual, medium original with strawberries and yogurt chips.

"Don't you have a curfew or a chaperone or whatever?" Ryan asked, pushing the door open and leading Chad back onto the street.

"Taken care of," Chad replied around a mouthful of frozen yogurt.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Chad shrugged and avoided his question again. "We're a team. We look out for each other."

"Why are you guys staying in the city for the night, anyway?"

"For the same reason we were here playing Columbia tonight even though they're not in our conference and, honestly, they never really had a shot tonight. Because someone asked nicely. A former Redhawk coach is now at Columbia and one of Columbia's star players from back in the day is now coaching for us and everyone wanted to see the matchup. It was all very exciting, trust me. And, basically we get the overnight because our star senior asked for the overnight stay since his fianc is at NYU and we actually have a reasonable break after this game, so there's nothing to rush back for. You know, this stuff's pretty good."

"I told you. Way better than cardboard. But, that still doesn't explain why you get to roam all over the city with me tonight."

"I told you. We look out for each other. Me and my guys."

Ryan rolled his eyes as they rounded the corner. "So helpful. It's a wonder anyone knows anything about you."

Chad grinned. "I'll tell you, when you tell me why it's taken you almost 2 hours to become the Ryan I remember."

"So, we're here." Ryan said, ending the conversation by tossing his container into the trash and crossing over Christopher Street and waiting for Chad to do the same.

"And, here is?"

"One of my favourite spots in the city. However, since neither of us is technically 21, you're going to have to go with me here for a minute," Ryan said.

"Sure thing."

Ryan bit his lip slightly and reached over and grabbed Chad's hand and led him through the door and up the stairs.

~ ** ~ ** ~

 **[Chad] The Duplex 61 Christopher St**

"This is so not 'one of your favourite spots'," Chad said as they made their way up a narrow staircase and ended up in a very small and very crowded room. He wasn't sure what was going on, but he continued the hold on Ryan's hand.

Ryan laughed. "It really is."

"Yeah. Whatever. There's _basketball_ on the TV," Chad said, pointing to the screen on the wall with his free hand.

"Yes. Which is why we're here." Ryan tugged his hand and motioned across the room. "But,come with me for a second."

Chad let Ryan lead him across the room and down a small flight of very narrow stairs. Ryan smiled and nodded at the man working the door and led Chad into a small room with a bar at one end, about 20 or so small tables in the middle, and a stage at the other end. "It's a cabaret bar. They have open mic nights here and other random concerts and fundraisers and stuff."

"Okay. Nevermind. I take it back. This is totally your scene." He grinned over at Ryan. "So, what's happening in here tonight that you've decided I need to see?"

"Nothing." Ryan replied.

"Then why, out of all the places in New York City, did we end up here?"

Ryan smiled back at him. "Well, they know me here and I have a great fake ID that I don't need to show them anymore and you look at least 21 with that whole imperfectly-perfect coiffed facial hair thing that you have going on these days, so it's easier to grab a drink here than anywhere. And, the basketball game is on. And, I know you and your guys were talking about it before I stole you away."

Chad blinked at him. This wasn't at all what he'd pictured he and Ryan doing during his time in the city. He figured they be doing things that were more _Ryan_. Like going to a play or something. Sure, Chad knew that made no sense since it was almost 11pm, but still. This was not what he'd pictured the plan as being. Ryan stuttered. "I mean, if you wanted to do something else... Or catch back up with your team..."

"No. This is totally cool, man. Totally." Chad grinned at him. He meant it. "Seriously. My team and I spend so much time together that we could probably identify each other by smell now. It's kind of disgusting. We really do need some time apart and alone time can be a very good thing. Besides. It's been, like, a million years, dude. Email and texting and getting messages about you from Shar so aren't the same thing."

Chad headed back up the stairs, pulling Ryan with him, and headed right for the sofa in the back corner of the room. Walking past the small groups of people who were gathered around small tables and on the sofas that lined the wall, it didn't escape his notice that almost everyone else in the bar was male, nor was he particularly surprised. It partially explained his "role" as Ryan's date for the night to bypass the need for showing his ID at the bar.

"Uh, Chad? We're probably not going to have the best view of the TV from there."

Chad shrugged, "It's fine. I'm sure I'll be able to check in. Go, sit. I'll grab us some drinks."

Ryan furrowed his eyebrows, shrugged his shoulders, and settled himself in the corner by the wall.

Chad squeezed his hand before he dropped it. Chad hummed to himself as he made his way to the bar, pulling out his phone. He'd felt it vibrate on his way up the stairs, but his hand has been otherwise occupied. He smiled and returned Sharpay's text message with one word. Putting his phone back into his pocket, he wandered up to the bar. Grinning easily at the bartender, Chad winked. This? This he could do. It's not like it would be the first time.

He smiled his most seductive smile and ordered himself a pint of Stella and when he didn't know what to order Ryan he really should have asked Sharpay for that little bit intel when they were chatting earlier the bartender smiled at him. "Need a suggestion?"

Chad pointed at Ryan who was sitting in the corner, texting with someone, probably Sharpay since she apparently had nothing better to do this evening than to harass the both of them. The bartender chuckled. "Well, he's no stranger around here. You are, however, the first stranger he's brought in here. Usually, it's a vodka/red-bull."

Chad made a face. "And, for those of us who refuse to order that because we're not actively trying to have our hearts explode..."

The bartender laughed and dragged his index finger slowly down Chad's forearm. "Well, how about I whip up something else?"

Chad took the offered drink, letting his gaze linger just a little bit longer than necessary on the man behind the counter he was hoping to make further use of his services before the night was over so it was best to stay on his good side and headed back to Ryan.

"I know you did not get me a ginger ale, Danforth."

Chad smiled and handed him the drink that did look suspiciously like ginger ale. Ryan took a cautious sip. "Please tell me there's alcohol in this, because I think I need to have at least four of them and I will be so disappointed if I don't end up with at least a pleasant buzz."

Chad smiled. "Vanilla Stoli and ginger ale. The guy at the bar thought it was a safe choice."

"Not my usual, but not bad. Tastes like cream soda."

Chad grinned and settled down beside Ryan. "I hear your regular is Red Bull and vodka and that shit could kill you, dude. I cannot support that. You need to find a new usual. Alright, so. Tell me everything."

Ryan blinked. "Pardon?"

"Spill," Chad replied, leaning over and grabbing one of the two cherries out of Ryan's glass.

"About what? I've spent the last few hours walking you through my life. I even let you in on my second favourite place to grab a drink."

"Well, let's start with your favourite place to drink and then move onto why you looked like you'd been beaten repeatedly with a very large stick earlier tonight."

Chad watched as Ryan drowned his drink with three quick gulps and pushed himself off the sofa. "I'm going to need at least three more drinks."

Chad frowned. Ryan not wanting to talk about Ryan was weirding him out.

~ ** ~ ** ~

 **[Ryan] Karavas Place 108 7th Ave S**

Ryan lost count after drink number 3, but he didn't think he'd had more than 5. Maybe. Fortunately, Chad had switched from beer to something with a higher alcohol content, so he'd managed to catch up a little bit and the conversation had become pleasantly nonsensical on both sides.

Or, at least, Ryan figured, that was the explanation for why Chad was draped over him. Not that Ryan was complaining, and not that he wasn't leaning back and enjoying the fact that there were at least 5 different pairs of eyes on them. After all, not everyone in the bar was on a pretend date with a basketball player who was wearing him like a blanket. Too bad for them.

The room was much warmer than it had been, though some of that may have been his human blanket, and the colours were definitely softer around the edges. Ryan couldn't remember most of their conversation, he was fairly certain there had been a discussion of the reason why it was way better to just walk than to try and take a bus or a cab across town at rush hour, though he couldn't figure out why they'd been talking about that. And, there was definitely a conversation about someone named Jess that Chad had had a brief fling with after he joined the frat at U of A. And, Ryan thought he remembered saying something about Brad, the cello player Kelsi had introduced him to. Which ended up being nothing to write home about, so there was no reason he really needed to tell the story.

"Okay," Ryan said, forming his words carefully. "We need to not be drinking anymore. Or I'm not going to be able to be responsible for my actions. And, I need Greek food." Ryan paused. "Hey, who won the basketball game?"

Chad looked at him, thoughtfully. "You know, I forgot to look. I'll ask the guys tomorrow." Chad unwrapped himself from Ryan, pushed himself somewhat unsteadily to his feet, and wandered over to the bar. Before Ryan could push himself off of the sofa to follow him, Chad was sliding his bank card across the bar and picking up the tab.

"Dude," Ryan stumbled behind Chad and put his hands on Chad's shoulders to steady himself. "You know how much drinks in this city will cost you?"

Chad just shook his head and took Ryan's hand and led him out of the bar and slowly down the stairs. "Then next time, don't try to match me drink for drink if you want to beat me to the bar to pick up the tab. Now, where's this Greek food you promised me?"

Ryan pointed across the street. "Open until 4. Best souvlaki in the city. Or, at least, that's how I always remember it."

"What about fitting into your practice clothes tomorrow?"

"If I'm using it to counteract the alcohol in my system, some of those calories will totally cancel each other out. And, I'll just have to skip on the pizza at dinner tomorrow. Whatever. I'll figure it out then. Right now I need protein."

"Chicken?" Chad asked, walking through the door of the restaurant and heading towards the counter. Ryan dropped himself onto the nearest chair and rested his head on his arms on the table while nodding.

Ryan didn't even realize he'd temporarily fallen asleep until Chad dropped down next to him, nudged him awake with his elbow and pressed their knees together.

"Gimme," Ryan said, motioning to the food.

Ryan took the food when Chad slid it over with a teasing smile. "Don't tell me you're fading on me now, Evans."

"Not a chance," Ryan replied around a mouthful of pita bread. And, he was surprised that he actually meant it. Halfway through his meal, he could swear that he felt the food literally absorbing the alcohol from his body and he was much more awake.

"Okay. So, it's," Chad looked at his watch when he'd finished eating. "5 minutes to 4:00. Now what?"

"Well, for being the city that never sleeps, I've realized that it actually does, occasionally. But, there is some stuff open."

Chad looked over at his cell phone which was laying, battery dead, on the table beside him. "Well, it looks like they're closing up here and unless you know somewhere for me to plug in my cellphone, I'm fresh out of ideas."

Ryan looked over at him and grinned. "I know just the thing."

~ ** ~ ** ~

 **[Chad] The Apple Store 767 5th Ave**

"Ryan, where are we going?" Chad watched as Ryan held up his hand and calmly flagged down a taxi.

"58th and 5th," Ryan said, sliding himself into the backseat.

The cab quickly made its way through surprisingly empty streets and dropped them off on the requested street corner. Chad handed over a twenty without even looking at the meter and pushed Ryan to get out curbside.

As they stepped onto the sidewalk, Chad noticed all of the trees on the other side of the road. "Hey, is that Central Park?"

Ryan looked over. "Yup. Told you we had grass somewhere else in the city. We can go over there while we wait, if you want."

"Wait? Wait for what?"

Ryan tapped Chad on the shoulder and pointed. Chad followed his hand until he was looking at a... giant glass icecube? "Is that the apple logo floating in the middle of a glass cube?"

Ryan grinned. "Come on."

Chad followed Ryan up the stairs, onto the stone platform and towards what appeared to be a door in the front of the cube. "You do know that it's, like ten after four in the morning, right?"

"24/7, 365, baby. You never know when you might need to buy a laptop at 4 in the morning. Or," Ryan smiled. "Charge your cell phone. Here. Let me see it."

Chad handed over his phone, wary as he was about anyone who isn't him being in charge of his beloved new iPhone, and followed Ryan down a winding metal staircase. He watched as Ryan strolled through the store, but found himself momentarily distracted by the huge space filled from wall to wall with iPods and computers and all kinds of toys that were, sadly, out of his budget scholarship or no scholarship. As he caught up to Ryan he could see him sliding his credit card and Chad's phone across the desk with a smile. "So, we'll be back in an hour or two?"

"Sure thing, Mr. Evans. Your phone will be here when you're back." The employee smiled pleasantly at the both of them. Much more pleasantly than Chad would be if his job was selling electronics at four in the morning.

Ryan turned to look at Chad. "So, are you in need of a laptop? iPod? Any various accessories for the aforementioned electronics?" Ryan gestured around the store with a grand flourish and a huge grin. Chad shook his head.

"To the park, then?"

Chad nodded. "The park." He held out his hand to Ryan and only breathed a small sigh of relief when Ryan took it. "So, now that we're walking, you're going to start talking."

"About what?"

"You."

"Me? What about me?"

"Well, you and I have pretty much been emailing and texting and talking on AOL and sometimes even on the phone since we put you on the bus to NYC "

"I flew," Ryan interrupted, "First class."

Chad rolled his eyes. "Yeah, because that's the point of this conversation."

"And, all I know about you is that you go to Julliard, you're majoring in dance and you have this insane double major in acting that they only let, like, 5 people in the whole school do, and that you have rehearsals and class pretty much every day and when you don't, you spend at least as much time practicing. I also know that sometimes you like to go out and listen to local music. But, that last thing is the only thing I didn't know about you before you left." Chad paused long enough to catch his breath, but not long enough for Ryan to interrupt him. He was on a roll.

"But, I've been following you around the city for," Chad looked at his watch, "6 and a half hours and I've managed to learn that you share an apartment with 7 other people and a room with one of them. You're a regular at a piano bar-slash-cabaret club-slash-gay pub, and that you know that you can charge your cellphone at the Apple store at 4 in the morning. Not only do you _take_ the subway, you know the subway system like the back of your hand. You seem to have a weird obsession with frozen yogurt, and you know a place where you can get completely awesome Greek food until 4am and eat it surrounded by drag queens on one side, men in business suits on another, punkass teenagers on a third, and a couple of old gay men on the other. Oh, and you apparently are managing to get laid on a somewhat regular basis."

Ryan flushed and snorted a little. "Yeah, sure."

"Seriously. You moved to one of the most insane cities in the world, there's, like, Gucci and Armani on every corner, there's even a fucking doorman at _Bed Bath and Beyond_ and somehow it's actually managed to chill you out. I didn't that that was possible." Chad paused. "Are we the only people in the park?"

"Well, if we take that tunnel over there, I'm fairly sure we'd run into at least one homeless person, but pretty much, yeah."

"Why? And, don't think we're not coming back to the other conversation later."

"The park is closed until 6am."

"They close the park?" Chad asked. This was kind of a foreign concept.

"Less people get killed if they don't walk through the park in the middle of the night. Now, come on. I'll show you my favourite part."

Chad let himself be dragged through the park; through a seemingly random series of paths and stairs and fields and tunnels. "Didn't anyone ever tell you to take time and smell the roses, Ryan?"

Ryan looked over at him. "Hey. You're the one who's only swinging by for less than half a day. If you want to see stuff, you're going to have to see it quickly. We'll do it the right way next time. And, hey, I usually jog through the park in the morning, so you should just feel lucky that I'm not making you run."

"Now you're a jogger, too? Seriously. How have I managed to be your friend for this long without learning _anything_ important about you?"

Ryan laughed but Chad stopped walking. "Seriously." He tugged lightly on Ryan's hand. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Ryan, for his part, looked genuinely confused.

"That apparently I've missed this entirely new side of you."

"Hey, it's fine."

"No." Chad shook his head. It wasn't fine. "But it will be. Now, lead on. Places to see, people to do."

Ryan just rolled his eyes and led the way.

"Hey! It's a castle. This place must be so cool in the daylight."

Ryan smiled and led him up the path to the stairs up the side of the castle. "You have no idea."

~ ** ~ ** ~

 **[Ryan] Delacorte Theater Central Park @ 81st St W**

Ryan grinned as he ran up the stone steps to the top of the castle and over to the edge, dragging Chad along behind him.

"Seriously, man. Look at the view." Ryan looked over and Chad was smiling. A real smile, not a "I'm playing along with you" kind of smile. "Hey, is that a theatre?"

"Isn't it awesome?" This was definitely one of Ryan's favourite places in the city.

"It kinda looks a basketball court with one of the sections taken out. I didn't know they made theatres where the stage was in the middle at the bottom and the seats went up all around it."

"It's great. You can see the stage from any seat and the theatre is gorgeous. It's open and all made of wood and they do Shakespeare in the Park here in the summer. Can you even imagine?"

"Tell me about it," Chad said without missing a beat.

Which is how Ryan found himself staring out over the Delacorte Theater, watching the sun slowly rise, blathering on and on about the Public Theatre and all the stars that show up to do these shows because who wouldn't want to do Shakespeare? Professional validation and you have a great audience and an awesome venue and it's only for 6 weeks so people can do it on breaks from filming TV and movies and all about lining up for 7 or 8 hours starting in the middle of the night for free tickets to the performance for that day.

"I mean, you can donate some money and they will reserve you a seat, but really, half of the fun is waiting in line all day with a book and some music and a group of your friends and calling the deli to deliver you bagels and coffee to your spot in the line and watching people throw hissy fits when someone tries to let their friends cut in line at, like, 11 o'clock in the morning when everyone else has been there since 5 or 6 am." Ryan paused to catch his breath and suddenly realized how long he'd been rambling on for. "I mean, um, if you're me."

"Let me know the next time all of this craziness is happening. I'll fly up and go with you." Chad looked like he meant it.

"You... what?"

"Go with you. Heck, I might even understand what's going on after next semester."

"Next semester?" Ryan was confused.

"What, didn't Shar tell you? We're in the same Shakespeare class next semester."

"You're... taking Shakespeare?"

"Hey, I'm cultured." Chad tried to look indignant.

Ryan raised his eyebrow and waited.

"Okay, fine. So I have an English requirement next semester and my coach has this weird obsession with Shakespeare quotes and the class is only for three hours once a week, which is a totally sweet schedule that actually fits around practice. And, since Shar was taking it and it is probably going to be the only class her and I will ever take together. So, when she suggested it, it kinda sounded like maybe not a bad idea."

"My sister suggested that _you_ ," Ryan pointed at Chad. "Take a Shakespeare class. With her. As in, _together_." It wasn't really a question, he just needed to hear it out loud one more time. "And, she told me I lost _my_ mind when I started getting my morning coffee at Dunkin Donuts and not Starbucks."

Chad laughed. "College makes people do all sorts of crazy things."

"Seriously, though. You and her?"

Chad shrugged. "Well, we're not having sleepovers and giving each other makeovers, but you know her better than anyone. She's never going to look better in comparison to anyone in that class than she will to me. And, well, again. Have I mentioned her condo?"

Ryan sighed. "Chad. What are we doing?"

"What do you mean?"

Ryan made a point of untangling their fingers and flailing his hands around a little bit so Chad would hopefully get what he was talking about without actually needing to say it. "Shakespeare?"

"I think that was maybe me asking you out on a date."

Ryan nearly fell over. "What? Where did this come from? And, when did you start dating guys? Or sleeping with them. Or whatever."

"Umm.... officially? Frosh week. Unofficially....?"

Ryan couldn't do anything but stare at him.

"The party after the play in senior year?"

"Chad, it's a cast party. My sister kissed Jenna because someone asked her to. Andrew and Dean made out with each other because Andrew's _girlfriend_ asked him to. Kelsi spent half the night sitting in Martha's lap and the other half sitting in mine. It's what we do when you mix dramatic personalities and a bunch of alcohol. The fact that you kissed me every time I gave you another drink didn't really stand out as a life-altering statement that you were making."

Chad looked at his feet."Well, there was the after party for that Glittery Star Award thing at the country club."

"Where you and Zeke decided to see who could drink the most of the spiked punch and he kissed my sister, so you kissed me? And, then went back to Taylor for the rest of the night?"

"And, I asked you to be the mascot."

"Because I can dance and I'm a sucker and you knew I needed another PE credit. But, incidentally, is also why I made you wear the stupid clown suit in the play."

Chad looked up, looked him square in the eye and spoke determinedly. "The Lava Springs baseball game."

Ryan's mouth fell open. The memory of the two of them rushing back so vividly as if it were only yesterday. "Where we had a summer fling in the locker room and then you proceeded to ignore me for the rest of the summer?"

"Until I French kissed you in the hallway at the Lava Springs party, suggested that you be the basketball team's mascot, tried to get you to join the baseball team, joined the senior musical, asked for extra choreography lessons from you, and repeatedly attempted to make out with you in the middle of the Senior Year party even after you made me wear the clown suit."

Ryan gaped.

"Or, Chad continued, "the way that, for some reason, I haven't been able to go more than a day or two without sending you an e-mail or a text message and why it took Sharpay exactly three seconds to figure out why I kept asking about you every time we met up for coffee. Or why I had my friend Jake on the team call the coaching office pretending to be my Uncle Steve in New York City and promise that he would sign a waiver for the night if I could spend the overnight with him after our game against Columbia."

Ryan really wished his brain would start communicating with his mouth so he could say something.

Unfortunately, that didn't happen before Chad continued. "And, maybe, it's why you kissed me back every time I kissed you, why you accepted the position of mascot even though it's all work and no glory, why you were always free whenever I wanted an extra dance practice, why you return all of my texts and emails no matter how busy your day has been, why you've stayed up all night with me even though you have dance class tomorrow. And, more recently, why you and I have been holding hands all night everywhere we go," he paused. "And why Sharpay asked you 87 times to make sure that you and I met up when my team made its way over here and she made sure that I was doing the same."

Ryan pretty much accepted that his brain wasn't _going_ to start talking to his mouth, so he gave up trying to speak. Instead, he reached out, grabbed the front of Chad's jacket in his hands and pulled him. Pulled him down and kissed him. Kissed him like he'd wanted to for way longer than he wanted to admit, but for at least the last 7 hours.

"What was that?" Chad asked, his face close enough that Ryan could feel Chad's facial hair against his cheek.

"Well, I don't put out on the first date, but by now I think that between the apples, the frozen yogurt, the drinks, the Greek food, the Apple store, and now Central Park, we're at least on date number 5. And, my definition of first date is _very flexible_."

Chad laughed and tipped his head down and kissed Ryan again, kissed him so hard that he forgot how to breathe. "Much like you. Allegedly."

"Besides," Ryan said, propping himself against the railing and settling his hands on Chad's waist and his legs between Chad's. "My sister told me that we've basically had a long-distance relationship the entire time I've been in this city." Ryan kissed him and then pretended to think. "Does this mean that she's right? Again?"

Chad smiled and traced cool fingertips along Ryan's chin. "I won't tell her if you won't."

Ryan bit the tip of Chad's finger lightly and smirked a little at the change in Chad's expression. "Well, at the moment, I'm torn between thanking her right now for managing to talk sense into you since I was apparently a lost cause, and making out with you in the castle until you need to catch your flight. Both of these options, of course, have me completely not thinking about what the reality of this is going to be when you get back on the plane."

Ryan watched as Chad frowned. "So, you really didn't know that I had a thing for you for basically all of senior year?"

"Dude. You weren't exactly clear."

"But," Chad looked so confused that Ryan had to bite back a laugh. "Maybe I just didn't know how to, you know, flirt. With a guy."

"I also saw you ask Taylor to the prom. Do you think that maybe you're just not good at it in general?"

"I would be insulted if that weren't actually probably true. But, what's past is past. I'll have you know that my powers of seduction have greatly improved. But, well, I've never done this before and I don't know what's next, either. So, we'll figure it out as we go. First, why don't you skip over calling Shar until we're done making out in the castle. It'll make for a better story."

~ ** ~ ** ~

 **[Chad] Meredith Willson Residence Hall - Broadway and 65th Street**

"Did you want to have a shower before you get ready to go catch your plane?" Ryan asked as he walked through the lobby of his building. Chad had his fingers threaded loosely with Ryan's, holding on with purpose, but loosely enough that Ryan could easily slide his hand away if he wanted it. "I could grab you a towel and show you which showers the boys in my apartment are allowed to use. Guest or otherwise."

Chad shrugged. "Sure. But I still have, like 2 hours before I need to leave for the airport. So, you know. We'll get there." He raised his eyebrows and nodded towards the elevator. Chad followed Ryan onto the elevator and let himself be pulled in by the waist as the doors closed and Ryan kissed him again.

Chad tried not to protest when Ryan pulled back. "Sorry. Um. Security cameras?"

Chad just looked at Ryan. "Did you just apologize? Seriously? Okay. You've clearly been making out with the wrong people if they want you to _stop_. I mean, look at you. All that dancing and frozen yogurt has been _really_ good to you. And, seriously. Who cares about the cameras? It's Julliard. I'd bet my scholarship that this is not the first time two guys have made out in the elevator."

Ryan laughed and Chad grinned as he kissed him again and didn't come up for air until the elevator opened on the 26th floor.

"Wow," Chad announced as they stepped into the apartment. "Did the thermostat break while we were out last night, because it's like a million degrees in here." Chad fanned himself with his hand. "No pun intended."

"Nah. It does this sometimes. I usually just open the window while I go make dinner downstairs or something," Ryan said, wandering into his room and pulling the door closed behind them.

"Why don't you tell me more about this _dinner-making_ that you allegedly do while I crack the window."

Chad wandered over to the window and tried to pull it open from the bottom.

"Shut up. Sometimes I feel like eating something not on the menu. And, hey, you can't eat out all the time," Ryan replied defensively.

"Sharpay can."

"I'm not Sharpay. The window doesn't open like that," Ryan remarked, nudging Chad out of the way, propping himself up on the desk chair and unwinding the lever at the top of the window, which pulled a small section at the top of the glass about 2 inches from the screen.

Chad raised his eyebrows at Ryan.

"The windows don't open."

"Seriously? That's messed up."

"It's how it is." Ryan shrugged. "I don't even think about it anymore."

"Well, I guess we are 26 floors up. And, I guess someone would probably be killed if there was a fight and someone threw someone else's belongings out the window." Chad peered out onto the city below as he climbed the ladder into the lofted bed.

"Yeah, so that might be part of it, I guess."

"What?"

Ryan fidgeted. "I bet that every single one of the practice rooms in the dorm has had someone in it all night. I'd say every person in this building spends at least 2 hours a day that they should be using for sleep working on whatever it is that they're here to study, in addition to their normal practice time. People _wait_ outside the library for it to open in the morning and get kicked out when it's about to close. I know of at least three people who tried to hide out in the bathroom when the library closed so they could spend the night. If you don't run to the library the minute you get your class assignments and grab the books you need, the pages you'll need for your assignment will sometimes be torn out of the book. Or, people will take reference books and hide them. And, that's just the stuff I know to be true. There's enough gossip and urban legend around here to drive anyone to..." Ryan trailed off and made a vague gesture with his hands. "They don't want to provide the opportunity for someone to act on sleep-deprived, pressure-induced thoughts of, well, you know."

"You're serious." Chad held out his hand to pull Ryan up the ladder to join him.

"Like I said. Things around here can get pretty intense."

"But, as in, they bolt your windows shut to stop people from jumping out them."

Ryan yawned. "Welcome to Julliard. Where the pressure's high, the praise is scarce, and the windows don't open."

"Aren't you tired of always being tired?"

Ryan shook his head. "I _have_ been up all night."

"You know that isn't what I meant. And, I actually can't tell if it's the good kind of tired. Which makes me think that you're doing a really good job of trying to make it look like it is." Chad bit his lip and waited, hoping that Ryan wasn't going to clam up on him. Again.

Ryan sighed. "No, no. It is. Definitely the good kind of tired. My life here is great. It was exactly what I wanted. The city is amazing, the teachers are unbelievable and the community is awesome. It's just.... Big fish."

"Huh?" Chad looked around the room, confused, trying to figure out what Ryan was talking about.

"East High."

Chad looked over at Ryan. "Okay, you _are_ going to have to start speaking in more than 2 syllables at a time if you ever want me to figure out what the hell you're talking about." Chad leaned back until his back was resting against the headboard, propped up on some pillows.

"At East High," Ryan studied his hands carefully as he spoke. "I was a very big fish in a not very big pond with not all that many fish in it."

Chad nodded.

"Here, I'm an average-sized fish in a much larger pond that's _full_ of very, very large fish."

"Ryan, you're hardly average " Chad began, but stopped short when Ryan looked over at him.

"I am. It's fine. Really. It is."

Chad looked over at Ryan, held up two fingers and mouthed "two syllables" at him.

Ryan smiled. "It's okay. Honestly. I'm not the best, not by far, but I'm not the worst, either. I'm somewhere comfortably in the upper part of the middle and I'm about 3 million percent better than I was when I got here a few months ago, so imagine how much better I'll be by the time I finish here. _Definitely_ not average."

Ryan shuffled himself on the bed so he was lying in the small space between Chad and the wall. Chad had to admit, the beds in the frat house may not have been all that comfortable, but they could definitely fit two people way more easily.

"You're different." Chad said, rolling over on his side to face Ryan.

"Than what, exactly? I've been called different quite a few times in my life, I'll have you know. You're hardly the first, so you're going to have to elaborate."

Chad smiled. "Different than you used to be. And, definitely different than your sister."

"I don't know why everyone is always so surprised by this. It's not like there aren't some very obvious anatomical differences."

"Shar couldn't do this in a million years." Chad flung his arm out as if to indicate, well, everything.

"Yes, she could " Ryan defended his sister automatically.

"No, she couldn't," Chad shook his head. "Could she have gotten into Julliard? I don't know. I don't know enough about this kind of stuff to say for sure. I know she's not here, but I don't know if it's because she didn't get in or didn't accept. I have my suspicions that it's because she didn't accept, but I could be wrong and that's not my business until she tells me. But, if she was here, she couldn't do what you do. She couldn't handle being anything less than the best."

"She... I..." Ryan floundered.

"She couldn't, Ry, you know that. She couldn't handle being somewhere where she wasn't the star. It's what she thrives on. She's the star at U of A, no question, and she's completely revolutionized the East High Drama Club and she's amazing at it. And, here, she'd be a face in the crowd. Probably the sparkliest and pinkest face in the crowd, but you know what I mean. I'd never thought I'd say this, but I really do like your sister, right now at least, and she's a great performer. But, she couldn't do it. It would beat her down. But, it's made you _better_."

Chad could feel the heat radiating off of Ryan's cheeks. "You don't need to say it. And, you don't need to agree with me out loud, but I know it."

Chad paused and Ryan lay still.

"And, besides," Chad said, swinging his leg over Ryan's and moving closer in the very small space of the twin bed, "Do you think that Sharpay could have handled these living arrangements?"

Ryan flushed a little. "Well, it's not so bad at the moment. Kaz's rehearsing and everyone else is either out or being a hermit and I think"

"I think that you need to stop thinking and we need to grab an hour or so of sleep before I get to my plane and you get to sleepwalk through your dance class."

Chad felt Ryan nod and Chad rested his head on Ryan's shoulder and his hand on his stomach. "You know, there's a surprising lack of Broadway paraphernalia around here. What's with that?"

Ryan shrugged. "It's... Not so much what we do here."

"So, you're blending in?" Chad couldn't really wrap his head around that.

"Well, I still have my subscription to Playbill magazine and an iPod full of showtunes, so the real me hasn't gone away completely."

"I'm bringing you posters the next time I come. Or, at least, a Phantom of the Opera pencil case or something." Chad grinned.

"You wouldn't!"

"No, you're right. But, you really need a little more of you in this room." Chad might not know much about musicals, but he'd picked up enough to know that, even in musical theatre circles, not all shows were created equal.

"I'll work on it."

Chad kissed the bottom of Ryan's jaw and pulled his newly charged iPhone out of his pocket. As he was setting the alarm, a distinctive chime came from the pocket of Ryan's jacket, which was lying on his desk.

"That's Shar," Ryan said, identifying her personalized ringtone.

"You can call her when we wake up." Chad put his phone on the headboard and settled back in, draping his arm across Ryan's waist and closing his eyes. He allowed himself a small smile when he felt Ryan's arm wrap around him. "She'll still have plenty of time to gloat at the both of us before I get on the plane and have to turn off my phone."

  
\-- END ---


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